


Together

by FFanon



Series: Love in Alaska [1]
Category: Sweet Virginia (2017)
Genre: Coffee date, Established Relationship, F/M, Late Night Conversations, New Relationship, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Sam has a small splinter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 05:17:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15308310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FFanon/pseuds/FFanon
Summary: Sam is in his first relationship since losing his wife and daughter years earlier; it's also his first relationship since being diagnosed with Parkinson's.  Both cause a hesitancy to loom over him.





	Together

The sun had gone down about three hours ago, leaving behind a cool autumn evening with stars littering the sky.  At this hour, on a weekday, the diner isn't very crowded.  The few people inside consist of truck drivers passing through, a couple old timers who have no one to go home too anymore, and people like herself, those finishing a late shift somewhere.

 

She's the school nurse at the high school, and as such part of her job is to travel with the sports teams when they have away games.  The boys' basketball team just got back about a half hour ago from a game about an hour away; as soon as she stepped off the bus, she got into her car and drove to the diner as planned.

 

Beverly, one of the waitresses, walks over as she takes a seat at a booth by one of the windows.  This must be her usual shift time because she waits on their table more often than not.

 

"Hey there!" Beverly greets her with a smile. 

 

She's the mother of one of the girls on the girls' basketball team, the same one Maggie is a part of. 

 

"Hey," she smiles in return.

 

Beverly, smooths her hands over the apron of her diner uniform, "The usual? Two cups of coffee?"

 

And the way Beverly smirks, makes the woman blush as she nods in response, "Yes, please."

 

"You got it," she grins again and walks away to get the order.

 

It's only a few minutes later that the uniformed woman returns holding a circular brown tray with two ceramic plates, cups sitting atop of them, and a pot of coffee. 

 

Carefully as to not clang them, she places the drinkware on the table, one in front of the woman and one in front of the empty space across from her. 

 

"Fresh pot," she mentions as she starts pouring the delicious smelling liquid into the woman's cup first.  As she does, the small bell connected to the door jingles and she looks up, a smile growing on her face as she watches the man she's been waiting on enter the diner. 

 

Sam keeps his hands close to his body, left hand rubbing the right, as he spots her.  The still almost shy, but nice sized smile he gives upon eyeing her makes her cheeks heat up. 

 

He makes his way over with his slight uneven walk, and Beverly looks up as she starts pouring coffee into the cup meant for him. 

 

"Heya Sam! Didn't your Mama ever teach you it's not nice to keep a girl waiting?" she teases on him with a grin. 

 

Sam throws her a lopsided grin as he gets close, "Evenin' Bev.  And yes, yes she did," he gives a soft chuckle, sliding into the booth across from the woman he's come for, "My sincerest apologies for keepin' such a woman waitin'," he glances at his booth mate with a tender smirk.

 

"All's forgiven," she responds with amusement in her eyes.

 

"If it was anyone else, I'd say don't let him off the hook so fast," Beverly places the coffee pot back on her tray, then pats Sam's shoulder, "But I guarantee, he didn't intend to be late," she smiles and leaves the two of them alone.

 

"No, that I did not," Sam rubs at his hairy chin quick, "You been waitin' long?"

 

"Not at all."

 

With the two of them finally alone, Sam rests his arms on the tabletop and properly greets her, “Hi.”  The way he looks at her is so soft, that grin on his face that brings the hint of several creases at the corners of his deep brown eyes.

 

“Hi,” she sweetly smiles as her cheeks just ever so blush, unknown to herself, but Sam sees the dusting of pink and he feels his grin grow. 

 

Noticing that she hasn’t yet touched her coffee since it was poured, he reaches his arm towards the window end of the table and grabs two sugar packets from the colorful display of different sweeteners.  When he pulls his arm back in, he hands her the two packets which she graciously accepts with a ‘thank you’, then gives them a little shake before tearing them open and pouring it into her cup.  As Sam brings his cup to his lips, he can’t help but watch her gentle hands as she picks up a spoon to stir in the sweetener.

 

They had first saw each other about a year and a half ago when Maggie first made the basketball team.  Sam has always been a frequent spectator at the young girl’s games, and she had noticed him in the stands each time.  This broad shouldered, obviously fit, bearded man who never failed to show up and cheer for a young friend. 

 

Sam always found himself glancing at the beautiful woman with the first aid bag who was at every game he attended.  The way she cheered for the kids and brought a smile to everyone around her when she’d speak with them.  There was an exuberance about her that he envied all those other people for experiencing. 

 

It wasn’t until Maggie twisted her ankle at a game a few months back, that the two finally spoke a word to each other.  She helped Maggie off the court and Sam made it down the bleachers in time to help her get Maggie into her nurse’s station.  The entire rest of that game was spent with Maggie sitting with her teammates with ice on her ankle, and the two of them sitting side by side.  That night Sam had left with her phone number in hand and they’ve been on several dates since. 

 

When his work schedule at the motel gets a little crazy with the late hours, they meet up when they can, including evening coffee breaks like tonight’s.

 

“So how’d you make out tonight?” he leans on his arms, which circle around his cup.  She has one hand tucked between her thighs, and her other arm rests next to her coffee. 

 

Sam starts with a brush of his fingertips across her fingers, hesitant only in a bid not to rush, not in an uncertainty of any kind.

 

Intimacy is slow for Sam.  He shared his tragic past with her a few dates in and though he didn’t say anything specifically, she understood that things with him would be slower than normal.  It’s the first time he’s allowed anyone in like this since his wife.  It’s been kisses and hand-holding and hugs, that’s all so far.  But she already has decided, that for him, she’d wait as long as he needs. 

 

She bends her fingers, letting her knuckles brush up against the inside of his. 

 

“One bloody nose…” she responds.

 

He glides his fingers along hers until his palm blankets over her smaller hand, the light callouses of his fingertips tickling her wrist.

 

“Two forehead bumps from a literal run-in…”

 

She pulls her hand in slightly until she turns her hand over underneath his, taking hold of his large fingers and tenderly turning his hand over, palm up.

 

Her fingertip slowly traces the lines of his palm as she gives her final answer, “…and one floor burn.”

 

Just before he responds, he takes hold of his cup with his troubled hand, but when his palm touches the heat of the ceramic he hisses in pain.

 

Concerned, she lets go of his hand to touch the pained one, “You okay?”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” he nods, not wanting to make a big deal, “Got a splinter before I made my way here. S’alright.”

 

Turning his hand over, she sees a pink, irritated spot near the middle of his palm, “This doesn’t look alright.  Did you get all of it out?” She looks to him.

 

“I, uh, didn’t try yet.”

 

“What? Why not?” her nurse mode kicking in.

 

“Didn’t want to be more late than I already was,” he gently answers, sharing a look with her, “and with this hand, it’d take longer than it had to,” referencing the constant trembling of it.

 

A gentle brush of her fingers over his tiny wound, “Well then, do you mind if I give it a try?”

 

He looks at her, never expecting her to ask such a thing despite her profession, “It’s frustrating, trust me,” he tries to talk her out of it, embarrassed still that he has Parkinson’s and now someone else sees the effects often, “Plus you’d need tweezers, it’s a small one.”

 

“I’m a nurse…” and she keeps hold of his hand as she moves a couple things aside in her purse before holding up a pair of tweezers, “…so I always have tweezers,” and she gives a quiet, lovely laugh. 

 

He relents with a smile, “Well aright,” he nods, “Come here and give it a go,” he scoots over in an invitation.

 

She slides out of her side and in a surprising act, Sam lifts his right arm as she slides in next to him.  Once her hip touches his, he brings his arm down around her and locks her in as he places his hand, palm up, in front of her. 

 

Before she does anything else, she leans into him a little more and turns her head to look at him.  It’s the closest they’ve been all night. 

 

Their eyes stay on one another as she brings her hand up to slide along his jaw, fingers burying in his beard.

 

“I missed you,” he shares in their little moment.

 

“I missed you too,” she brushes her thumb over the corner of his mouth.  It’s been a few days since they last saw each other.

 

Tilting her face up a little more, she parts her lips against his, kissing him with care, always unsure if the next kiss will end up being too much. 

 

But Sam’s lips push against hers just the tiniest amount to no longer make the kiss a questioning one.  She feels his right hand press against her stomach as he hugs her into him. 

 

When the kiss ends, neither of them truly pulls away; she can feel the faint tickling of the hairs of his beard on her cupid’s bow.  With a smile caused by pure happiness, she kisses him again, though a bit quicker of one this time, and when she feels his lips grin against hers, her heart beats faster. 

 

He kisses her forehead right after and then she’s focusing back on his hand that he’s placed back on the table. 

 

It trembles non-stop, but there’s no way she’d let him think he’s not worthy of love and care because of it. She picks his hand up and holds it against her sternum, but before she starts she looks to him again, “If I hurt you at all, tell me,” and she’s so serious that he can’t help but smirk in amusement as he nods once, “Will do.”

 

She ends up matching his expression before looking back to his hand. 

 

The trembling does cause some difficulty, and he notices, but she doesn’t even flinch.  Instead, she just holds his hand against her sternum with some extra force and though they both feel his trembles, visually they don’t appear as severe. 

 

Sam never complains, not even when the pointed corner of the tweezers dig into his skin a couple of times, he just alternates between looking over her shoulder at her working and letting the tip of his nose brush against her hair which makes her smile each time. 

 

The only time she gets frustrated is at herself.  She managed to grab the tiny sliver of wood a couple times, but she lost her grip on it.  With a small huff, she leans her head back on his shoulder in a quick break. 

 

“You know, you can quit at it if you want,” he offers, trying to hide his amusement at how cute she is like this.

 

She lolls her head towards him, “I don’t like to quit,” she states.  He brings his left hand up to brush his thumb along her chin, then lowers it back to the table.

 

“Neither do I,” he shares, but it feels like his statement holds more weight than it seems because the way he’s looking at her makes her whole body warm, inside and out.

 

She lifts her head and presses her forehead to his jaw briefly before getting back to task.  She holds his hand firmly close again, manages to grab the end of the tiny wooden sliver, and pulls the whole thing out.

 

“Got it!” she exclaims in victory, causing a quick laugh to escape him.  Placing it in a napkin, she bunches the material up and places the tweezers down. 

 

“Feel any better?” she rubs the tip of her finger near the edge of where it had been. 

 

Sam flexes his hand a couple times, “Good as new. Thank you,” he kisses her temple. 

 

As she starts figuring out if she should go back to her side of the booth, he reaches out and pulls her coffee cup towards them.

 

He doesn’t want to let her go. 

 

\---

 

When they walk out of the diner, their hands find each other with naturality.  The small parking lot means her car isn’t too far, but Sam accompanies her to it anyway. 

 

Once at the driver’s door, she squeezes his hand but neither let go.  Turning to face him, she smooths her hand along the fabric at his chest, “I really enjoy when we do this,” and he moves into her more which she happily allows, “I love being with you,” for a beat she holds her gaze on her hand on his shirt because she feels a bit too vulnerable for sharing that with him. 

 

His lips graze her brow after she shares that and at his affection she looks to him. 

 

“You’re always the best part of my day,” his shy grin only gets bigger when she smiles at his words. 

 

She lets go of his hand and he wraps his arms around her waist as she brings her arms to move around his neck.

 

“That was incredibly sweet,” she lets out a small breath of a laugh as his nose brushes hers.

 

“You bring it outta me,” he teases softly before his lips are on hers. She just smiles to herself because he’s always been sweet, had nothing to do with her dating him.

 

After a brief time making out against her car, he pulls away and rests his forehead against hers.  She takes a small breath before finding the courage to say something that’s been on her mind.

 

Closing her eyes, “Sam…” then opens them and leans back a bit to look at him, her hands coming to rest at his chest, “…I just want to let you know that if you ever wanted to…um, you know, stay the night at my place…that would be okay with me…”

 

Sam’s expression falls neutral, his eyes flitting between hers as she speaks.

 

“…There doesn’t have to be an expectation of sex or anything like that…” she gives a tiny shrug, “…it’d just be us being together.”

 

When he doesn’t say anything, just his hand still rubbing her back as it was when she was talking, she gives a like squeeze of his hip, “Say something,” she quietly requests, afraid that she’s pushed him away.

 

“…It’s not just that it’s been a long time,” he starts explaining himself more, “It’s also that…physically…I’m not the guy I used to be.  And I don’t know…what that means for…” and he trails off but the intimation is there. 

 

She slowly brings her hands to his jaw and pulls him in for a soft kiss.  A thank you for being so open with her when she knows it’s hard for him.

 

“Nothing about you makes me apprehensive about being intimate with you,” she offers, her hands sliding along his forearms, “We’ll find out, together, what works best. But only when you’re ready.”

 

He moves his arms from her waist so he can tenderly cradle her face.  His wrists get held by her as she continues, “I’ll wait for you, but I also don’t want that to be the reason we can’t just spend the night together, clothed,” she adds for a bit of levity which he can tell by her cute, amused smirk.

 

There’s a comfort in the way he sweetly brushes his thumbs across her cheekbones when he has her like this, even more so when a cute smile is on his face like there is now. 

 

“I want to find out with you.”


End file.
